Improvement in gases for motive power



UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

JACQUES ARBS, OF BARCELONA, SPAIN.

IMPROVEMENT-:memes Foa .MoTlvE POWER.

Specification forming part of Letters'fatent'No.'40,805, dated-Decembef-B, 1863.'

To all whom' it may concern.-

Be it' .known 'that I, .JAoQUEs ARBs, of Barcelona, inthe Kingdom` of Spain', have .feature is the production of a gaseous .mixture composed of 'oxideof carbon, of hyd-ride of g azote, and -of asmall proportion of carburet of hydrogen. This compound', combinedwith air in proportions varylng with 'its .richness in carburet or' hydrogen, and inflamed or ex ploded by anelectric spark or by redhot platinum wires, exerts inside a cylinde-rj-a pressure which. .becomes a motive. powerfupf.

on a piston th erein,'which power is transferred tothe main shaft of the engine or apparatusv to be transmitted or used as required.` At` the Sametime asv the. gaseous compound is generated steam is produced, which. may also be employed as ainctivepower, and may be used in a cylinder coupled with the gasengine.

t Figure lof the accompanying drawings is an elevation of my apparatus for generating gas and stea1n,and of a-gasengiue constructed v' aecording to this invention.

I will first describe vthe apparatus for generating gas and steam, and then proceedto explain'the construction and working of the engine in which AI employ the gas for obtainin motive power.

The apparatus forgenerating gas and steam -is composedof two principal-parts-a furnace placed'in the center and a steam-boiler surrounding thefurnace. A is the furnace, which is lined with fire brick.

Bis `a circular grating for allowing air to pass into the furnace.

C is the ashpit.

D is a pipe through which air is forced into thefurnace under the grating at 'the coinmenceinentof the operation,and through which air at the'ordinary pressure is allowed to pass when the apparatus is at work. A door regulates the admission of air into the furnace. According 'to the nature of the f uel employed it willbe-found desirable in some cases to force in air by means of a fau or otherwise during the whole time of the operation'. F isgajconical opening,l closed by a stopper. This -.opening serves for the .introduction of fuel into the furnace and for' the exit of the gases evolved at' the .commencement of the operation. with a trap.-

L isa-'pipe for leading sfeaminto'the pipe D, to bemixed 'with the air` admitted to the furnace.

Er is a-siphontube for introducing liquid combustible material into the furnace to increasethe intensity of the gaseous mixture.

G' 1s a pipe ierl conveying 'thefgaseous mixture-from the furnace.

H is a metal or firebrick vessel, which may `b e cylindrical or of other suitable shape. This vessel contains coal heated to'red heat for de composing the carbonio acid and vapors which may have escaped 'decomposition in the fur- -nace A.

I isa furnace or fire place for heating the vessel H. ,This furnace L may be dispensed with, the vessel H in such case being placed .in the furnace A.

'J isa pipe for leading the gaseous compound into the cylinder of the engine, after it has beenmixed with a sufcien. quantity of air to allow ofits being-'inamed or exploded, as hereinafter described.

Mis a steam-boiler,.protected' by some non# conductor to prevent loss o f heat by radia- -tion. The waterin the -boiler is heated by the f urnaceA,` whereby steam-is generated.

T is a coekjfor'emptying the4 boiler when necessary.

' N vis a tube leading. to a gage for indicating the'pressure .f

O is a oat'for indicatiugfthe water-level.

P is a safetyvalve R is a pipe forA supplying the boiler wit-h water whichhas been previously heated in the jacket ofthe cylinder of the gas-engine by the combustion of the gases inside the said cylinder, as hereinafter described.

Sis a 'pipe for leading steam fra :n the boiler o a steam-chest, engine,.or other destination.

.The stopper may be furnished To set the apparatusfor generating gas and steam to' work. I light up 'the' furnaces A and I, and fill the furnace'A with co'a'l, air being admitted thereinto by the pipe D, When-the gases which pass off by the opening F become infiammable, I close theopening andthe gase` ous mixture then passes off by the pipe G into the vessel H, which is full of incandescent fuel. -It then passes through the pipe J into the cylindei1 V of-l-tlie gasengine, where itis exploded or inflamed by ,an electric spark or by-red-hot platnumwires, and thus produces suiiicient force to cause the piston of the engine lto make a half-course, the toandfro motion of which piston p roduces the rotation of the principal shaft in the ordinary manner.

If it be desired to obtain a gaseous mixture richer in inammable materials, I introduce into the furnace A, by means of the siphon-V tubeE, tar, oils of resin, of petroleum, and of schist, or the like, or other fatty matters, laccording to the richness in carburets f hydrogen that it is desired to impart to the gaseous mixture',

In'. some cases, instead of or in addition to employing the fatty matters just named, I introduce steam into the furnace by the pipe L,

During the formation ofthe gaseous mixture reat heat is produced in the furnace A, which 1s transmitted to the water in the boiler M. The boiler yis supplied with'water heated in the jacket of the cylinder V of the gas-engine by the combustion of the gaseous mixture in the said cylinder. By the aid of a force-pump Worked by the enginecold water is made to enter the lower part of Athe cylinder V` and becoming heated, as before mentioned, to a high temperature passesoif at the upper part of the said cylinderto the boiler M.l I therefore obtain, by means of my invention, two motive agents-videlicit, that produced by the combustion of the'gaseous mixture, and that of steam produced by the heatingof water in thejacket of the cylinder V, and Ain thel boiler M, v`which incloses the 'furnace A.

My new gas-engine is shown in sectional elevation in Fig. 1. Fig.. 2 is a,'horizontal section of the cylinder, illustrating the distributionand working of the gaseous mixture. T`he engine is supported on aframe, c, the main drivingshaft c carries a ily-wheel, d, and revolves in bearings b, carried by the frame. The connecting-rod g is united to the head h of a piston-rod, t', which head slides in guidesj,*and carries a commutator for prod uc-` ing an electric spark and communicating it first at one and then at lthe other end of the cylinder V. An eccentric, Z, united to a rod, m, works the slide-valves ofthe cylinder V, which latter is constructed in the vfollowing manner: The' sides are made with a double casingcr jackets, n o, in which water fed byA a supply-pump through the pipe p circulates;`

the furnace of the said gas-generating aggaand" while so doing becomes heated and passes through the pipe? It to' the boiler M. The gaseous mixture generated'in the furnace A, as before described, and conducted by the pipe J, is admitted to the cylinder V by the valve q. This valve has two-"openings, to allow passage of' thegasemto the passages fr r cf the cylinder, .The 'openings are arranged insuch manner that one or other is closed, according as the valve qis'turned in one or the other direc-iiiof. the openings '..comes sllcces-"- tion.' sively in Connectionwith the pipe J, andat the same'- time a smallv lateral channel on. the

plug 'of the. valve gcomes opposite a lateral opening, s, formed on the' valve-box. This opening is commanded by a tap worked b y hand', byI means of 'whichfIam enabied to regulatelthe quantity of air admitted with the gaseous mixture.4 The gaseousmixture being introduced into the cylinder V, andthe pistourod t' working the commutator, thelatter completes the electric circuit at the required moment,the electricspark produced in the part v, in which the platinum wires as are lodgedig nites the gaseous mixture in the cylinder, which in expanding drives the piston from one end of the cylinder to the other land reverses the position of the armature. A similar action takes place on theother side 'of the piston, andjso' on. In consequence of the successive explosions of the gaseous mixture, the water tintained in the jacket of the cylinder becomes heated and returns to the boiler M, to be .replaced bythe coldwater supplied by the pump.- The products of combustion j'of lthe gaseous mixture in the cylinder V escape by passages and slides simi-lar to the inlet-pas` sages on the opposite side of the cylinder. And having now described the nature of my said-invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim- V1. The production of a gaseous mixture,

Icomposed of oxide of carbon, of hydrideof azote,-and of a small proportion of carburetfcf hydrogen, said compound being combined with air and .used as a. motive power, in the manner hereinbefore set Irth'.l

2. The apparatus for generating the gaseous mixture, to be used in. the manner substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated 'inthe accompanying drawings.,

3. The generation-of steamby the heat-ing of water in the jacket of thecylinder of the said.. gas-engine, and in a boiler surrounding ratus, substantially as hereinbefore descri d. V In testimonylwhereof I have signed my name to this specification before two subscribing witnesses. p

J. ARBS. Witnesses:

Manns. SLUCH, E. JAUMEs. 

